


Strawberry Season

by loucium



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: M/M, Pre-Relationship, but post A support, i made many mistakes in my time, it took me far too many years to realize strawberries were a sexual fruit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-07-27 03:13:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7601224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loucium/pseuds/loucium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even during a war, simple pleasures can make a day - and a fresh basket of strawberries, some sun, and a little free time to take a breather is all Takumi could ask for before his usual hectic schedule resumes.</p><p>This break, Leo joins him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strawberry Season

Takumi liked strawberries.

He had always enjoyed them, especially when their season came along and he could get the freshest pick; he liked eating them raw, eating them in crepes, having Oboro put them with his tea… It was an annual tradition at this point that he and Sakura would get a basket full the moment they could and split the fruit as they pleased, often eating together.

Even with the war dragging on, strawberry season came, and it was a small comfort to have some purchased to be enjoyed at camp. Hinata and Subaki had made a special trip to get some for their lieges, and Takumi found himself ecstatic at the basket hand-delivered by his retainer to his tent.

Sakura was busy and Takumi was impatient, so he wandered away to rest against a tree and enjoy the treat provided for him, get some sun on his break. It wasn’t often he could relax like this – war council would be in thirty minutes, and he’d only barely finished going over the scrolls Ryoma had sent him the night before. But he knew from copious lectures that breaks were important, and his hands still ached from yesterday’s battle, so a moment in the sun spent listening to the bustle of camp and sucking on the sweet juices of a strawberry was _exactly_ what the prince needed.

As he ate, Takumi fell into a point of obliviousness, barely paying attention to his surroundings. Sure, he vaguely noticed that people seemed to slow down a bit when they walked by him, but that wasn’t odd – he was a prince, after all, and the commander of many of the people passing by. 

One person did catch his attention – Leo, who had stopped in the middle of the path and was staring at him, a light flush on his face. Had he been running drills or something? Perhaps he had gotten a sunburn again – the Nohrian royals were so quick to burn, having been accustomed to the darkness of Nohr for so many years. It was a little sad to see, really.

“Prince Leo! Do you want any strawberries?” Takumi called, waving at Leo and smiling brightly. He hadn’t been able to see Leo much this past week, having been caught up in preparing for and then fighting a rough horde of Faceless. This was only the first day after the fight, and many were still resting in medic tents. The council today would be debating their next move, figuring out if they wanted to proceed further north or keep their current path, and while Takumi knew that was important, he also wanted some casual interaction with his best friend.

Leo grinned openly and started walking over to Takumi’s spot under the tree. He seemed pleased with something, and Takumi found himself wondering if Leo was fond of strawberries – they had been sharing favorite foods for a while now, but had never discussed fruits. Takumi found himself snapped out of his musings when Leo got to his spot under the tree. Leo was looking down at Takumi with a little more interest than he normally did – was something on his face? But before Takumi could bring a hand up to check, Leo grinned and wiped a thumb across Takumi’s lower lip, and when he pulled it away, there was a faint trail of red juice left on his thumb.

“You seem to be enjoying them enough all by yourself, Prince Takumi,” Leo said, smiling, and he laughed lightly when Takumi started sputtering indignantly. Still, Leo seated himself on the ground nearby, and when Takumi pouted and shoved the basket towards him, he dutifully took one of the offered strawberries. 

“I love strawberries. They’re one of my favorite fruits, actually,” Takumi said, huffing and feeling a light flush grace his cheeks. It was inappropriate for a prince to blush so easily, but there was nothing he could ever do about it, especially around Leo. At least Leo had a similar flush to his cheeks – while it definitely wasn’t from the same sort of thing that Takumi was experiencing, it made him feel better.

When Takumi brought another strawberry to his mouth and took a small bite off of the tip, Leo started watching him again. It wasn’t odd for Leo to stare at him (or just off into the distance, or at a book), so he thought nothing of it, though Takumi did find himself self-consciously licking at the leftover juice on his mouth once he pulled the fruit from his mouth, still embarrassed by Leo cleaning up his mouth earlier. Leo, for his part, had his eyes slightly unfocused, and he was particularly slow in grabbing another berry to eat, rolling the green tips around in his hand before seeming to remember that he was supposed to eat it, not just play with it.

He and Leo ate in silence for a few moments, and Takumi allowed himself to relax against the tree, close his eyes, and enjoy the sun and his treat, making small, contented noises whenever he got a particularly sweet or juicy bite. Leo stayed with him for it, eating the occasional fruit and seeming to enjoy the moment of peace as well – something neither royal often got.

Eventually, Takumi opened his eyes only to find Leo already watching him, a small, self-satisfied smile on his face and the same light pink flush on his cheeks from earlier. When Takumi looked at him, he rested an arm on his leg and his chin on his fist, grinning lazily at Takumi with half-lidded eyes. “So, Prince Takumi, strawberries? Any other fruits you’re fond of?”

Takumi blinked at him, biting his lip and thinking it over. “Well, I like fuji apples, and watermelon is nice in the summer, especially when its hot out. Apricots are really good too…”

Leo kept smiling at him, and when Takumi trailed off, Leo gently pushed the basket of strawberries back at him. Takumi took the hint and grabbed another berry, biting into and sucking, oblivious to the hazy look in Leo’s eyes, or the way he was paying far too much attention to Takumi’s face: Takumi's lips were dyed red from the juices, his cheeks were vaguely flushed from being teased and from the heat, and he had an incredibly pleased expression on his face – a fatal combination for Leo’s focus.

“I prefer tomatoes, but I also rather like blackberries –“

Leo was cut off by the heavy sound of armor, a distinct metal clanking noise that got both of them to glance back towards the path and away from each other. Ryoma made a rather imposing figure as he stalked over, glaring at Leo (he was always glaring at Leo, and Takumi had tried to prod why he disliked him so much, but Ryoma never wanted to talk about; Takumi worried a lot about future diplomatic relations if his brother couldn’t get over his dislike of the prominent Nohrian prince), and resting his hands on his hips and he stared down at the two. “Brother. Prince Leo. Enjoying a snack before our council?” 

“Hinata and Subaki fetched me and Sakura a basket of strawberries each, but I thought I’d share some of mine,” Takumi said, posture a bit pricklier now that his big brother was looking at Leo as though he had mortally offended him by eating a snack with Takumi.

“How kind of you to share.” Somehow, the tone that Ryoma said that in made it sound like it wasn’t kind at all, and Takumi was positive that he was missing out on an entire conversation between his brother and Leo, who were looking at each other and both ignoring him – Ryoma was a frustrated look on his face and Leo with a smug one.

Was Ryoma upset that Takumi hadn’t been taking time to have meals with him? This hadn’t been planned… But perhaps he needed to talk to him about it later, see if maybe Ryoma was getting antsy about the family not getting to spend much time together. That was the only thing he could really think of to explain the frustration in Ryoma’s eyes, but it did nothing to explain why Leo looked so smug.

“Prince Takumi rather enjoys them. Perhaps we ought to procure them more often, especially since the peak season just started. It might be a nice treat for the army.”

Ryoma only looked angrier, and Takumi found himself wondering what exactly was wrong with eating strawberries.

**Author's Note:**

> i will forever headcanon that takumi is a little bit oblivious to sexual things
> 
> after all, who would tell him? ryomas not gunna give takumi The Talk, neither of his retainers would, and whos gunna go up and tell the emotional, easily flustered prince that hes accidentally eating fruit erotically??? i wouldnt want to have the conversation, and the odds of takumi staying around for a talk like that are pretty slim, imo
> 
> (hmu @ soobaki.tumblr.com ! i want to yell about fe:f, esps about leokumi headcanons...)


End file.
